In many restaurants across America today, one can order fajitas. The server often brings a hot skillet or grill to the table resting it on an underliner or trivet. Other dishes are also believed to be served in various restaurants with extremely hot cookware at the table.
A common way of supporting this cookware is to provide a wood underliner. Wood underliners provided by the applicant and others are typically a laminated and planar Baltic-birch product. While these products work excellently for their intended purpose, one perceived disadvantage is that when a hot grill or skillet is placed on the wood, burning of the wood can occur upon contact. A black burn line occurs usually starting with the very first use. Charring off layers or portions layers of the underliner is a common next step. After repeated uses, someone may decide to wash the underliner in a washing machine. These products are not dishwasher friendly. Further delamination and/or deterioration of the underliner can occur due to washing. Accordingly, these underliner products typically have a relatively short life span. After at least one, if not a few, uses, a somewhat unattractive surface appearance may appear. Accordingly, a perceived need exists to provide an improved underliner for various uses.